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Last season, with 21 games left, the Kings were in 10th place, with a record of 27-22-12. Anaheim was 13th (26-25-10). Detroit was 1st (41-18-3).

Chicago leads the conference in regulation wins, with 15. The Kings and Ducks are second, with 14 each.

A glaring difference between Chicago and Anaheim, on one hand, and the Kings, on the other, is that Chicago and Anaheim have lost 2 and 3 games (respectively) in regulation, while the Kings have lost 10. And:

Chicago and Anaheim have played 11 and 10 OT/SO games (respectively), while the Kings have played 3.

The Kings have played more games that have ended in a regulation win or loss (24) than anyone else in the West. The average is 19.

19 year-old LW Michael Schumacher (6’5″, 210 lbs) has 19 goals and 30 assists this year in Sioux St. Marie. He’s got another year of juniors eligibility. Schumacher scores twice as Greyhounds down Rangers – Times Colonist Michael Schumacher scored twice and set up one more as the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds defeated the visiting…

While the images of a palm tree-silhouetted sunset amidst Chavez Ravine’s rolling hills would make Dodger Stadium seem like an ideal home for a Southern California-hosted outdoor game, the iconic Los Angeles Coliseum, which hosted an announced 115,300 fans for a Dodgers-Red Sox exhibition in 2008, could be another serious option.

What do you think? Are you interested in Iginla, or would you rather trade for a defenseman? What do you think Lombardi would or should offer if he becomes available?

Trading Jonathan Bernier doesn’t seem like an especially good idea for the Kings, and I’m not sure if trading Iginla for Bernier makes sense for the Flames. For the sake of argument though, what about:

Five things we might end up hating about new NHL realignment | Puck Daddy – Yahoo! Sports How do you like the idea that the Vancouver Canucks, located closer to Alaska than to Illinois, could win a Central Division title? The wild card format – a necessity due to the imbalanced conferences in the new…

… Score-Adjusted Fenwick turned out to be a better predictor than Fenwick Tied or Fenwick Close, especially early in the season. I released this stat last year and looked at how it did for predicting based on small sample sizes — and it sparkled in that role, very quickly flagging the Kings as the best team in the league after the Jeff Carter trade.

And while I’ve seen people talking about the 2013 Kings as a sleeper team, I haven’t seen many people emphasize just how good they appear to be.

It has been suggested that every time I mention Andrei Loktionov’s play in New Jersey, it’s some kind of vindictive “I told you so.” It’s not. I did tell you so, but it’s not. I post about the players I enjoy watching, and I can’t just switch off my interest in a player because he suddenly isn’t…

Well, here’s an indisputable truth for you: the Sabres and Kings have been checking each other out a lot lately. The Sabres have had a scouting presence at Staples Center for most Kings games over the past couple of weeks, more so than in other Western Conference buildings […]. L.A., along with Vancouver, Chicago, Dallas, Edmonton, Colorado, and five Eastern Conference teams, had scouts at FNC last night for Buffalo’s 3-1 win over the Rangers.

[FIXED: I somehow managed to forget that the Ducks and Kings both made the post-season in 2011. This post has been corrected to reflect reality.] Sportsclubstats.com puts the Kings’ odds of making the playoffs at 91%, and the Ducks’ odds at 99.9%. SCS puts the overall odds of the Kings and Ducks meeting in the first…

Last night, Jeff Carter scored maybe the most sheepish hat-trick I’ve ever seen. With 14 goals in 20 games, Carter is on pace for 57 goals in an 82 game season. In celebration of the four goals by ex-Flyers, here’s a link to the freshly-updated Philly West page, with new graphics. The Kings jump to…

From The Strangest One Of All — “Can’t Jet From The Past“: […] there are many people who still refer to the Winnipeg Jets as the Atlanta Thrashers, mostly for their craptastic playing style and their streakiness […]. It makes me wonder why this has been such a wide-spread thing and how come other teams weren’t given as much flack […]. For instance, you didnt see people rag on the Avalanche for playing like the old Nordiques, but they had the benefit of […] winning the Stanley Cup their first year in Denver, which almost all but erased the Nordiques from their history…..literally.”

Loktionov is getting excellent notices in New Jersey. From Fire & Ice – “Loktionov continues to impress“: Devils center Andrei Loktionov continues to make key contributions and impress, scoring the tying goal with 8:38 left in regulation Saturday. Loktionov, who was acquired for a 2013 fifth-round draft pick in a Feb. 6 trade with Los Angeles and called up from Albany (AHL) on Feb. 17, has points in five consecutive games now (three goals, two assists).

After a day of this nonsense — ooh the Flames almost lost their offer-sheeted player to waivers!! — Chris Johnston appeared on NHL on the Fly (by phone call) to repeat his debunked story from this morning. And then whoever that chucklehead is behind the desk just happily chirped along with their tisk-tisking about how…

However, at this point in this season, it’s better for the Kings if the Wild lose. Because the Wild are more of a threat to the Kings’ playoff chances. The Ducks are currently out of reach.

For that reason, as I watch the game, I am not bothered all that much by the fact that Anaheim jumps out to a 3-0 lead. It’s annoying, because I don’t like the Ducks and hate to see them succeed. But it’s gratifying, because the Wild losing helps the Kings.

We started the day with the post “I don’t think Ryan O’Reilly can play in the NHL this season,” and then followed with “Why I’m Wrong and Everyone is … Also Wrong.” Now, Jay Feaster has spoken, and people have written on the topic of his speaking. And I was all set to write a…

Earlier today, Sportsnet reported that Ryan O’Reilly would have had to clear waivers had he gone to Calgary. I wrote a post saying that my understanding of the CBA was that if indeed O’Reilly had played in the KHL after 1/19, then he would have to clear waivers to play in the NHL. On Twitter,…

Unless there is some kind of revision in the new CBA that now allows players to return from Europe mid-season, I think is a big problem for the Avalanche that could keep Ryan O’Reilly out of the NHL until 2013-14.